Terra mumbles swear words. His eyes wander aimlessly as he walks, sometimes bumping into pedestrians in his anger, ignoring their reactions completely.

  "Alright, Plan-B time, brainstorm, kill the officers? Too many. Blow up the entire block? I don't have a bomb. Teleport? What, why would I do that, I can't. Would be useful though..."

  He hears a familiar voice, the voice of Limbus. He turns to see a store window with multiple TV screens. Channel C. The news anchor is sitting next to Limbus. "The hell?

  MR Grow-Me-A-Garden is on TV?" He walks over.

  `` Correct, I fought him in Undercity 9. He got away, but that will be sorted out. ``

  The news reporter looks over to her papers. `` You broke a pact by going there? ``

  `` Yes I did, I was deployed to the Undercity with knowledge of the R.C.T. Syndicate Pact, this will face significant backlash but it has shown great progress to the chase. ``

  Terra snickers. "Dumbass, maybe his brain is connected with a vine to his mouth too. Breaking a pact with the Syndicate? Not a good idea." Terra states.

  Bystanders look over to him; some have already noticed and start running, others are in shock.

  A child walks over to him with a balloon. Terra looks over. "Sir, are you evil?" The child tilts their head, curious.

  Their mother frantically pulls them away, scolding them loudly.

  Terra stares at the child, going blank, but he's brought back to reality once he hears officers screaming in the distance. Gunshots ring past him.

  He quickly runs the opposite direction. "Whoa, calm down, you're just going haywire! Ever heard of collateral dimwits?! That's my thing! " He yells, smirking as he suddenly disappears,

  moving at an unimaginable pace. He slides through the alley, sound now catching up to him as a low boom travels through the alley, sending trash flying at high speed.

  He leans onto the dark, damp wall of the alley, slowly sliding down. "Alright Terra, it's time to put that big-ass brain of yours to use!" Terra takes out a map of America

  from his cloak's pocket. "Ol Mappy, I've had you since... Forever! Damn you're old." He looks through the states.

  Each state has a roughly drawn red X over it, some with multiple. He looks over them: California, Arizona, Texas—Too dangerous, they're all triple-crossed.

  West through Kentucky and the southern states? They’d be waiting at every major crossroad. His entire history of chaos

  is laid out before him, and every path he's ever taken is now a dead end.

  "What?" He stares, his crimson eyes contracting. He slightly crumples the map in a fist. His confidence slowly, but surely, drains out, now on the edge.

  "Where the HELL do I go now?!" His voice is a low growl, echoing off the wet pavement. He is trapped. For the first time in a long time, genuinely and truly trapped.

  He starts jabbing on the paper with his finger. His eyes track every line and route, every shortcut, highway, and pothole he has traversed. All of them lead to a dead end,

  straight to the R.C.T's hands like a gift basket.

  "Those FUCKING fuckers got me..." He stares at the map one last time, straightening the map on his knee. "Those nerds... Those, fucking stupid nerds finally got to me?

  They mapped out, shut off and put a pin on every FUCKING path out of this stupid city..." He slows down, focusing on the map. He traces the edges of the cities. "

  You magnificent, predictable, ground-loving dorks."

  He traces the coast. "You've trapped a mouse on the floor." He whispers to himself, a wild, ecstatic smirk spreading across his face.

  "So the mouse stops using the floor."

  He creases the map, highlighting the coast and the Atlantic Ocean. He smirks. "Alright, Mappy."

  He puts the map back into his cloak's pocket, patting it lightly. "New plan."

  He pushes himself off the ground, brushing off the grime and dust from his cloak and pants, as if that'll clean up the dried blood and god-knows-what that has already

  built up on his clothing... He now spins on his heel, turning, striding through the alley with his plan in mind, the smirk simply getting wider.

  "Let's go to the beach."

  He keeps walking, looking at the map. "Easy Peasy Lemon-" The alley wall hits Terra out of nowhere. "Augh-! What the..." He looks up. It's a dead end.

  The alley wall stretches up way too high, and the map doesn't show a clear way to the beach without going through the streets. He turns to look back. "The streets.

  The R.C.T infested streets." He stares in disbelief. "Alright."

  He crumples the map into a ball. "Plan C: Kill every officer and R.C.T agent in the city. How hard could it be?"

  A rattle comes from a trash can behind him. He turns. "Who's there! I got a flesh-spider and I'm not afraid to use it!" He looks over to the trash can. Behind it is...

  "That's uhm... That's a really bad idea, sir."

  The spider fizzles into blood. A vein forms at his forehead. "I know it's a bad idea, I don't need a tour guide to my bad ideas— ALSO, DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO STOP

  STALKING ME? WHAT WAS YOUR NAME AGAIN? DUTCH?"

  "I-It's Dash. Sir!"

  He clamps onto the top part of his nose, sighing. "That's not the point Shroom, YOU, are, STALKING, me. And I'd be flattered if this wasn't the 3RD TIME YOU'VE

  DONE THIS." He walks forward to Dash, flicking his mushroom forehead, before walking off. "Go run off to your family or whatever."

  Dash winces at the flick, rubbing his forehead. "Wha- Wait!" He scrambles to follow behind. "I could help you with escaping the city!" He exclaims, his voice

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  cracking when Terra glances back. He doesn't falter; he assumes a confident stance, but quickly gets nervous right after.

  Terra's eyebrow raises. "You could? Mhm totally, as if you know a better way outta here other than the sewer drain, and for the record I'm NOT going down

  there again." A flashback. He shudders. The memory of the smell in there physically revolts him as if he's re-experiencing it.

  Dash chuckles. "No no- I know this city like the back of my hand! I'm actually a rogue myself..." He now poses. "The Wisp, The Ghost... Dash!"

  Terra stares at Dash for a long silent few seconds.

  Then, he bursts out in laughter, slapping his knee, leaning a bit forward. "I'M DYING, BAHAHAHA! 'THE WISP'!" He wipes away a tear from his eye.

  "Oh man... That's rich." He smirks. "'The Wisp' huh? What's your power, you glow in the dark? Bounty: 2 toothpicks and a button."

  Dash's face turns red, still in his pose. "W-Well it's a cool name! And I do have a power!" Dash puts his hands together. "Swarm: Open!" Suddenly, a bunch

  of wasps and bees fly towards Terra. "Wait- Uh oh." The bees fly towards Terra, now stinging him over and over.

  He stands there, his eye twitching. The dark bees glowing with a hint of crimson Ether, flying around him like a storm. Terra's gaze locks

  onto Dash, his eyes darkened by shade as his head tilts forward slightly, terrifying him.

  A vein bulges from Terra's forehead as the "I'm gonna BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA YOU!"

  He approaches Dash in a quick walk, ignoring the throbbing welts on his arms, a crimson aura of pure annoyance

  flaring around his fists.

  "WAIT! WAIT! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! THEY DON'T LISTEN SOMETIMES!" Dash shrieks, scrambling backward until his back hits the dead-end wall.

  He waves his hands frantically. "Swarm! Swarm, uh... DISPERSE! NO, RECON! DO SOMETHING USEFUL!"

  The wasps, seemingly bored of stinging the serial killer, suddenly buzz in unison. They form a chaotic cloud before zipping past Dash’s head and

  landing on the brick wall behind him.

  Terra stops mid-stride, his fist raised. "If those flying needles come back this way, I am going to turn you into a flesh-construct of a fly swatter."

  "Look!" Dash points, shaking like a leaf.

  The insects aren't attacking. They are crawling into the mortar between the bricks, vibrating their wings. A strange,

  high-pitched humming sound resonates from the wall.

  Click.

  A hidden mechanism shifts. The vibration of hundreds of bugs inside the cracks triggers an old pressure latch. A section of the brick wall,

  disguised perfectly by grime, pops open with a dusty groan, revealing a dark, narrow maintenance tunnel.

  Dash blinks, looking just as surprised as Terra. "I... I mean... Behold! My master plan!" He strikes the pose again, sweating profusely. "Swarm... Latch... Breaker! Yeah!"

  Terra stares at the open tunnel. He looks down at the red bump on his arm where an

  especially good wasp stung him, plucking out the stinger with a grimace.

  He looks back at Dash, who is grinning nervously while a stray bee lands on his nose, shaking his arms as if trying to impress Terra with the entrance.

  Terra lets out a long, slow sigh, the crimson aura fading.

  "I hate you," Terra mutters, rubbing his arm. "I really do, you dork. But..."

  "That's not a sewer, so you live. For now."

  Terra crouches and enters the tunnel. "Hey, Shroom?"

  Dash excitedly replies, "Yeah?"

  Terra looks further down the tunnel, squinting. "If I see a single rat or six-legged creature down here, I'm gonna use you as a shield."

  Dash chuckles. "Does this mean we're officially a team?" His eyes sparkle, joy radiating from his smile.

  Terra frowns, the reality hits him. "This was a really bad idea..." He mutters.

  The tunnel is dark and damp. Wires stretch into the darkness across the walls, the pipes rumbling next to Terra's ear. The sound of dripping echoes through the tunnel.

  Terra keeps walking, stomping on a spider on the floor. "Are we there yet Dutch?"

  "Uhm, we've been walking for 30 seconds." Dash giggles.

  Terra looks around, stretching as he walks. His arm hits a pipe and accidentally dislocates it, water slowly leaking out. "Whoops. Not a me problem though!"

  He smirks, resting his hands behind his head.

  Dash follows behind slowly, muttering, "Vermillion Wisp- No, too weird. The crimson wasps? No... The awesome team?" He taps his chin repeatedly.

  "What'd you say?" Terra glances back to Dash, overhearing his talking.

  Dash's face turns red. "U-Uhm, nothing! Just... Counting?"

  "Dash, if you say 'The awesome team' one more time, I'll throw you back into the trashcan you fell out of and set it on fire." Terra's crimson eyes bore into Dash's face, as if they're laser beams.

  He giggles. "Okay, sir!"

  The tunnel leads to an opening. The tunnel becomes wider; rusty metal doors, posters and graffiti lining the walls. "Hey, Dash, when was the last time ANYONE came here?

  This place is more dead than whoever that is..." He points at the skeletal remains laying in the corner. "Hah, he still has his hat on!"

  "This place used to be used for relic smuggling and parties. And way before that, it was actually a mini-Undercity!"

  Terra pokes at the skeleton. A cockroach leaves its eye and scutters into a crevice in the wall. "Gross." He looks down. A notebook is laying on the skeleton's lap.

  "OOooo, diary of the dead!" He grabs it.

  "Uhm, I heard taking things from dead people brings bad luck.." Dash says, his voice cracking.

  Terra flips through the book, his eyes flying through the pages at rapid speed.

  "Bad luck is just R.C.T propaganda, Shroom." He shakes his head. "You have much to learn..."

  "So, what does it say?" Dash asks, leaning in with anticipation. Terra lowers the book, a focused expression. He slowly caresses his beardless chin. "Well, Shroom,

  according to my master's degree in ancient-dead-guy scribbles... I have no idea. I can't read."

  Dash walks over, reading it while in Terra's hand: "Up ahead there's a fork in the tunnel. Do not go left! I repeat, do NOT go left!"

  They both turn in sync to look behind them. The tunnel in fact does fork off into 2 paths. "Shucks, he's right! Thanks, Skeletor." Terra says.

  Dash blinks a few times. "Uh, let's go then!"

  "Yeah, let's go left!" Terra exclaims, strutting confidently. "Onwards!"

  "But, the book said-" Dash is cut off.

  "Book Shmook, but my instincts are superior to a stupid pile of paper neatly organized into a slab!" Terra confidently states, now heading... Right.

  "Uhm, Sir?" Dash says. "That's the Right path..."

  Terra freezes. His confident stride comes to a halt. He slowly turns his head, a single crimson eye glaring at Dash. There's an awkward stretch of silence.

  "...I knew that," Terra says, his voice flat.

  Dash blinks. "You... you did?"

  "Obviously," Terra scoffs, spinning around and pointing down the right-hand path as if it was his plan all along. "It was a test, Shroom! A test of your observation skills!

  To see if you were paying attention! You passed."

  "Wow, you really are amazing, Terra!" Dash exclaims, scrambling over to his side as he walks forward. "Only you'd have the guts to go right even when warned not to!

  Though.. Are you sure about this?" He notices it's getting darker, he puts his hands together. "Swarm: Illuminate!"

  Fireflies appear from thin air in front of him. He closes his eyes, focusing on making them line up in a path to light up the whole tunnel.

  Terra rests his hands behind his head carelessly. "Nope," He says, distancing himself from the insects.

  Dash turns to the walls, noticing a symbol etched into the tunnel's wall. He focuses on the symbol, fireflies flying over to light it up. "Is that..." He freezes. Terra turns over to look.

  He sighs. "The R.C.T."

  "What does this mean?" Dash says in a worried tone, looking over to Terra. "What do we do? Is it over?"

  Terra scoffs, "I think this means we need to move faster. Much faster." He smirks, stretching.

  "Huh? What do you mean? Are we being chased?! Do we have to RUN?!" Dash starts panicking, pacing in circles.

  Terra walks over and flicks his forehead. "No dumbass... I'm thinking, something faster than running... Shroom, have you ever seen Fast and Furious?"

  [-/-]

  The candle lays on the table, a spark passing by. It touches the top of the candle and sets off a small wisp of ember.